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Comment by whatever1 | Hacker News Reader

Welcome to the party folks. When people are complaining about maintaining an ice car, they are not replacing the crankshaft or transmission on an annual basis.

Every single unscheduled maintenance that I have done for my 2 ice cars in the past 10 years, would also be needed if they were electric. Wire looms, position sensors for accelerator, airbag sensors, ball bearings, suspension, windshield, ac compressor etc

Maybe I could had avoided some brake rotor changes with an electric car.

But It was really infuriating when people would casually claim that electric cars don’t need maintenance.

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I own a Model3 LR and an ICE. The Tesla is significantly more costly with insurance & tyres. It has also had a bunch of teething problems like broken camera, charging micro (stopping all charging). Fixed under warranty. 20,000km in 2 years.

My ICE has basically had no issues in 7 years (77,000 km) except the cost of oil change once a year. But recently it developed a rattle, which I had investigated, resulting in a $2,000 invoice just to investigate (at one point it wouldn't start at the garage, and they just kept throwing parts at it to get it working again). Now it's got a rattle and won't sell. It will cost more than it's worth to pull the engine apart to find the problem (probably timing chain).

Both are going to have issues. Overall though, for me, I'm more sensitive to time. So I'm scrapping the ICE for a ModelY.

I wouldn't go back to that mechanic.

You should be doing oil changes every 5k (Some say 3k) miles/6 months. Once a year is not enough with the distance you are putting on it. You should have had about 10-16 oil changes. That would explain premature wear on your timing chain (More likely you have broken guides).

That may have been the case sometime between the World Wars, but the only reason you'd do that these days is if you particularly enjoy visiting the shop.

Modern oils can easily last 20000 km (if you'd want, you could only change the oil every other time you change the filter) barring particularly harsh conditions or poor and obsolete engine design. Also, lots of driving (as in typically longer trips) means the oil lasts better.

Oil changes are a common nuisance only if you make them one.

Just like sealed lifetime oil transmissions, its all car manufacturers ploy to artificially lower maintenance costs to appease leasing/rental clients. They dont care about car wear as long as it survives lease term.

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